MOSCOW, July 25The participation of African countries in the forum and the summit in St. Petersburg confirms their desire to strengthen ties with the Russian Federation, no matter what the circumstances: 49 out of 54 countries have confirmed their participation in the Russia-Africa summit, more than half of them will be represented at the level of first and second persons, Yury Ushakov, aide to the President of the Russian Federation, told reporters.
«Despite the opposition of Western countries, despite the pressure exerted, sometimes very harsh, we still manage to hold the second Russia-Africa summit in this situation, and, of course, the participation of Africans confirms their desire to strengthen ties with our country, no matter what the circumstances,» Ushakov said.
«As of today, their participation (in mit «Russia — Africa» - ed.) was confirmed by 49 countries out of 54. At the same time, more than half — 27 — at the level of first and second persons,» he added.
In particular, according to him, the summit will be attended by 17 heads of state, five vice-presidents, four heads of government, one head of parliament. Another 17 states are represented by deputy prime ministers and ministers, mainly foreign ministers, five countries will be represented at the embassy level.
«In addition, it is very important — literally all the heads of the leading regional organizations in Africa will be present,» Ushakov said.
These include the African Union, the East African Community, the Intergovernmental Development Organization, the New Partnership for Africa's Development, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, the Southern African Development Community, the Economic Community of Central African States, the Economic Community of West African States, the Arab Maghreb Union, and the African Export-Import Bank.
«All key organizations that work for African oh continent,» summed up Ushakov.
The second summit and economic and humanitarian forum «Russia — Africa» will be held on July 27-28 in St. Petersburg. acts as an information partner of the event.